The Festival of Roses
by LazerWulf
Summary: There's going to be a festival in Konohagakure, and the girls must all fight to capture a date for themselves. But who is this mysterious figure named Kurohana Emi? Multiple Pairings! Chapter 3: The Challenge
1. The Announcement

LazerWulf: Greetings, true believers! This is my first shot at Naruto FanFiction, so please be kind. 

Spoiler Alert: This story takes place after episode 135, so it might contain some small spoilers if you haven't seen up to that point.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I only own this story and Kurohana Emi.

The Festival of Roses

Chapter 1: The Announcement

--

**Day 0  
1400 Hours**

A hush fell over the crowd. Tsunade, the medical specialist and slug tamer of the Legendary Sannin, was about to speak. It has been several months since Orochimaru's attack on Konohagakure, the death of Sandaime Hokage, and the subsequent appointment of Tsunade as Godaime Hokage. Currently, village morale has been low, and the recent defection of Uchiha Sasuke to Orochimaru and the failed mission to retrieve him was not helping matters.

Tsunade stood atop of the Hokage's office, dressed, for a change, in her red and white Hokage robes instead of her usual green robe that has the word "gamble" on the back. Her blonde hair was pulled back and split into two ponytails, and the blue diamond-shaped seal on her forehead, where she stores her chakra for her Souzou Saisei (Genesis Regeneration) technique, accentuated her brown eyes. Even though she's fifty years old, she uses the Henge no Jutsu (Transformation Technique) to make her appearance that of a twenty-year-old.

Her assistant, Shizune, was off to the side, holding Tsunade's pet pig, Tonton. Truth be told, it was her idea that was being presented, but she was the kind of person who wouldn't tell you that. Also on the rooftop was Jiraiya, Toad Hermit of the Legendary Sannin. He had been asked to help out with the demonstration, but he was unsure as to what his job would entail.

"People of Konohagakure," the Hokage started, "I am pleased to announce that one week from tonight, there will be a festival held within our hidden village, The Festival of Roses!" A low murmur of excitement could be heard throughout the crowd, but Tsunade wasn't finished, so she held up a hand to silence them. "However, this festival has a twist to it. Tomorrow, each female in the village will be given a tag with her name on it. If she can successfully place that tag on a member of the opposite sex, that male will be obligated to escort her to the festival."

This news received a mixed reaction. The girls were excited at the chance to "capture" a date for the event, while the same thought was making the boys squirm. Then, before he could argue, Tsunade pulled out a tag with her name on it and smacked it on Jiraiya's arm. The tag immediately burst into flame, leaving the name of Tsunade glowing in bright red characters where the tag had once been.

"As you can see, the tagging is instantaneous, and the marks go all the way to the skin, so don't think that you can get out of it by just changing clothes. Also, the marks will not disappear until after the festival, so be careful, girls, because the obligation goes both ways. Shizune, if you will."

With that, the assistant pulled out a tag of her own and placed it on Jiraiya's other arm. But, instead of bursting into flames like Tsunade's, the tag just fell to the ground.

"The tag reacts to the Y chromosome, so the tag will only work on a male. Once a man has been tagged, the mark will suppress any other tag's ability to read his Y chromosome, thus repelling any other attempts to tag him, so only the first girl to tag will win the guy. That being said, you will receive your tags tomorrow morning, so happy hunting!"

--

Within the crowd, there was a group of shinobi who were not citizens of Konohagakure. These were the sand siblings from Sunagakure, Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari. They had been about to leave for their own village after escorting Shikamaru's team back to the hidden leaf village when the announcement had been made.

"Well, this is interesting," Temari stated. "A chance for us kunoichi to show off our talents." She was wearing a blue kimono with black zoris, and a pink sash tied in a bow behind her back held her giant fan in place. Her blonde hair was tied up in four bunches, and her Sand forehead protector was around her neck.

"Speak for yourself," Gaara said. "I have no intention of being anywhere near this place when all this starts." He wore a maroon overcoat with black pants and zoris, with a white sash and a brown leather harness around his chest to help support the weight of his sand-filled gourd. "I'm heading back to Sunagakure."

"Spoilsport. What about you Kankuro? You up for some fun?"

"Sorry, Temari," the puppeteer ninja replied, "but I'm with Gaara on this one." Kankuro was dressed entirely in black, from his zoris to his hood. His two puppets, Karasu and Kuroari, were wrapped in bandages and slung over his shoulder. His red and yellow crest was displayed prominently on his chest. "A bunch of girls fighting over a date to a festival doesn't sound like my idea of fun. You can stay if you want. You thinking of anyone in particular?"

"Oh, I've got my eye on a certain deer I want to stalk."

--

Also within the crowd was a young woman in a slim black unitard. Her black hair was tied up in a bun, and her purple eyes held a glint of mischief in them as she put on a Leaf forehead protector.

"So, Konohagakure is holding a festival, eh? This should be fun. No man could ever stand a chance against the wiles of Kurohana Emi..."

--

LazerWulf: So what do you think? The festival is basically a Sadie Hawkins type set-up, with a ninja twist. Instead of just asking the guy, the girls have to capture them (though asking would probably work, too). I have all the pairings set up, but they will be revealed as the story goes on. (There were two in this chapter... did you catch them?)

Also, we got our first peek at my newest OC, Kurohana Emi. Kurohana, of course, means Black Flower, and Emi means 'blessed with beauty'. Emi is also my first shot at writing an OC villain. How will she be terrorizing the men of the Leaf Village? You'll just have to wait and see!

Until next chapter, please review!


	2. The Plot

LazerWulf: I think I'm going to abandon the whole interactive soundtrack idea. It didn't seem to catch on like I thought it would. That, and it's hard going through 5 CDs of songs to find the right track for a certain part. I've already edited i f you're just starting to read this and have no clue what I'm talking about, don't worry. It was nothing big.

The Festival of Roses  
Chapter 2: The Plot

--

**Day 1  
0400 Hours**

The sun had not risen yet, but several shadows were racing throughout town. These were the kunoichi members of ANBU, on a mission to deliver the tags to all the females in Konohagakure. One such figure went by the alias "Nanoko".

Nanoko and her fellow female ANBU had each been given a stack of tags, each one inscribed with the name of the one to whom they were to deliver it. Nanoko was particularly excited about the festival. This was her chance to get "Ryu" to confront his feelings for her. It was obvious that Ryu liked her, but he was too shy to ever approach her. She had first noticed Ryu when he had joined her squad. Ever since then she noticed that he always seemed to be around. Not like he was a stalker, but like a high school boy with a crush he was too afraid to act upon. She wasn't sure if she liked him back, but she was willing to give it a shot.

"**HAGANETON: YOKOKI NO SOKUBAKU!" **(Steel Release: Bars of Restraint)

By the time Nanoko heard the attack, it was too late. Three steel bars materialized from the ground and wrapped around her body, immobilizing her. As she struggled to get free, she felt the bars warm up, and her energy start to fall.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. My Yokoki no Sokubaku are draining your chakra. The more you strain, the more they drain."

Nanoko turned her head to see a figure hiding in the shadows. Judging by the voice, she figured it was female.

"Who are you? What do you want?"

"Those things are unimportant, as your chakra level should be getting to the point where you can no longer maintain consciousness."

"You'll never get... away... with... this..."

As Nanoko lost consciousness, she could vaguely hear the woman chuckling.

"We shall see, my dear. We shall see."

--

**0600 Hours**

On the other end of town, two figures hid in the shadows outside the home of Yuuhei Kurenai. They had been waiting long enough to see one of the ANBU kunoichi deliver her package and leave. Now, as dawn was breaking in the east, their patience was wearing thin.

"Tell me again why we can't just steal it."

"Because each tag is coded to the chakra of the one it's assigned to. It was designed to prevent someone stealing the tag, or someone using a proxy to do the tagging for her. She has to be the one to put it on him. Now, quiet. I hear something."

Sure enough, as the second figure finished speaking, Kurenai came to the door to retrieve her tag.

"Are you sure this is going to work, Ino?"

"It's one of Shikamaru's plans, Kiba, what do you think? If he's in position, this thing should go off without a hitch. Just bring my body to the rendezvous point."

That said, Ino placed her thumbs, index and middle fingers together in a box-type hand seal and aimed for the unsuspecting Kurenai.

"**SHINTENSHIN NO JUTSU!"** (Mind Transfer Technique)

Kurenai had no idea what hit her as Ino's consciousness took over her body. Ino had to move quickly. The house of Sarutobi Asuma was quite a distance, and she could only sustain the technique for a limited time.

--

**0630 Hours**

Tsunade awoke to the sound of banging.

"Tsunade-sama, wake up! There is something you need to be informed of."

"Can't it wait, Shizune? It's too early for any Hokage-ing."

"One of the ANBU delivery girls was found unconscious, and all her tags are missing."

This grabbed the Hokage's attention. She hopped out of bed, threw on a robe, and opened the door to let her assistant in.

"What?"

"She was found just outside the forest, with three steel bars wrapped around her body, which seem to have drained her chakra."

"Will she be okay?"

"She'll need some time to recuperate, but she'll survive. I doubt her attacker wanted her dead."

"What about her attacker? Does she remember anything?"

"Unfortunately, no. She doesn't even remember getting captured. Apparently the loss of chakra wiped her short term memory. We don't know who could have done it or how, but the why seems apparent."

"The tags."

"It would seem so. I have already created new tags to replace the stolen ones, but I fear that the person who stole them may try to tamper with them."

"I see. Keep me apprised."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama."

--

**0700 Hours**

At the Korean Bar-B-Que where Team 8 usually meets, Ino, Kiba, and Shikamaru were discussing the success of their plan.

"So the tag didn't work at first?"

"No, I made it to Asuma-sensei's house, where Shikamaru had immobilized him with his Kagemane no Jutsu (Shadow Imitation Technique), but the tag wouldn't attach. I think it might have sensed my chakra within Kurenai-sensei, so in order to get it to stick, I had to dispel my Shintenshin no Jutsu before I could get her back home. According to Shikamaru, the tag reacted immediately after I left the body."

"But Kurenai-sensei must have told him she was being controlled! Our cover is blown!"

"Relax, Kiba, you knew we couldn't keep it a secret. Asuma-sensei knows that the only way to pull that off is with Ino's Shintenshin and my Kagemane. They shouldn't suspect you, though."

"At least, not until now," a gruff voice said.

"Asuma-sensei!" The trio cried out. Sure enough, Asuma and Kurenai were standing over them, Asuma with Kurenai's name branded on his chest.

"What makes you three think you have the right to do something like this?" the cigarette-smoking jounin asked.

"Oh, please," Shikamaru replied. "We all see the way you two look at each other, and you both know neither of you would have taken advantage of this opportunity, so we did it for you."

"What we would or would not have done is not the issue," Kurenai added. "You three crossed a line, and you need to face the consequences. After the festival, you three will have one week of intensive training from Gai-sensei."

"What?" Kiba interjected. "I didn't have anything to do with this!"

"You're an accessory to the crime, and just as guilty," Asuma stated. "No excuses. You three are lucky we're letting you off until after the festival. Now, enjoy your week."

That said, the two jounin teachers turned and walked away, engaging in their own conversation.

"You know, Asuma, I'm kind of glad they did this."

"Oh, really?"

"They were right. I never would have asked you or tagged you on my own."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, now that we're stuck with each other, I wouldn't want to be stuck with anyone else."

"Really?"

"Really."

As they walked off, they passed Sakura, who had spotted Ino from outside and came inside to talk to her.

"Hey, Ino!"

"Hey, Sakura, what's up?"

"You get your tag this morning?"

"Yeah. You?"

"Mm-hmm. Any thought on who you want?"

"No. It's funny," Ino pulled her tag out from her tool pouch and began to fiddle with it. "If Sasuke were here we'd probably both be setting traps, trying to get him, but since he's gone, I have no clue who I want."

At the mention of Sasuke, Sakura went quiet. It took Ino a few seconds before she realized what she had said.

"Oh, god, Sakura, I'm sorry, I didn't mean... It's not your fault. I'm sure there was nothing you could have done."

"Yeah, you're right. I've got to stop blaming myself, but I can't help but miss him."

"We all miss him, but we've just got to move on and hope he'll come back."

"I guess..."

"So," Ino said, trying to change the subject, "are you going to ask Lee-san to the festival, or Naruto?"

"Naruto? Are you crazy? No way would I go with him! He's already tried to steal my tag three times today! But, since you mentioned it, I _was_ planning on asking Lee-san."

"Man, you're lucky. You got two guys going after you. Who do I have?"

"You could always take Naruto..."

"You're kidding, right? I don't want him anymore than you do! I think I'll just go alone."

The blonde kunoichi absent-mindedly put her tag back in her pouch, but didn't seem to notice that it fell out and landed on the seat beside her.

At that moment, Akimichi Chouji chose to enter the Bar-B-Que and came over to join the group.

"Hey, guys! How'd the plan to get Kurenai-sensei and Asuma-sensei together go?" he asked.

"What?!" Kiba exclaimed. "He knew about it, too? How come he's not doing the training?"

"Because we're not going to sell him out," Shikamaru said. "That's not the ninja way."

"Wait, what plan? What training?" Sakura inquired.

"Shikamaru came up with a plan to get Asuma-sensei to go to the festival with Kurenai-sensei," Ino explained. "It worked, but they found out it was us and sentenced us to a week of training with Gai-sensei."

"Yeah, it's such a drag," Shikamaru sighed, "but it was worth it to get those two together."

"Well, anyway, I'm starved! Where's the waitress?" Chouji said as he sat down.

Right next to Ino.

Right on top of her tag.

--

LazerWulf: And thus another chapter is completed. Now we have two new couples officially tagged. AsuKure and ChoIno. I'm not necessarily a ChoIno fan, it's just that after pairing everyone else up, this was the couple I liked the most.

Anyway, next chapter we'll see the rest of the gang, and things start to heat up between a certain two Jounins.

Review!


	3. The Challenge

LazerWulf: Finally, an update. Honestly, most of this chapter has been sitting on my hard drive for a while. I didn't want to post what I had, because I felt that it was too short to make an adequate update, and I was too busy working on beta-ing Kanius' YuYuGiDigiMoon series (which if you aren't reading, you should) to make it longer. However, now I've finally gotten enough of a break to write enough to call it a chapter, and so I present it now to you.

Also, I realize the term "shinobi" can refer to either male or female ninjas, but for the purposes of this story, it will be used to refer to male ninjas only to counter the use of the term "kunoichi" for female ninjas. The broader term "ninja" will be used to refer to ninjas of either gender.

The Festival of Roses

Chapter 3: The Challenge

--

**Day 1  
0723 Hours**

Hatake Kakashi landed on the roof of the Konohagakure Ninja Academy a full twenty-three minutes after the appointed time.

"You're late, Kakashi."

Kakashi turned to find Might Gai waiting for him.

"Sorry, Gai. I stopped to help my neighbor water her lawn."

"Always with the excuses, Kakashi..."

"Don't start with me, Gai. I get enough of that from Naruto and Sakura. Now, why did you ask me here?"

"As you know, we have faced each other 99 times, and I have won 50 of those matches, one better than your record."

"Ah, and you think it's time for our 100th match. If I recall, it's your turn to choose the battle, and judging from current events, I assume it has something do with Godaime-sama's Festival of Roses."

"Correct. As you know, for the next week, the kunoichi of the village will be trying to capture and tag the shinobi of their choice. The challenge is this: the one who can evade being tagged the longest wins."

"In other words, the first one to be tagged loses."

"And if I lose, I will do 1000 one-handed handstand push-ups." Gai flashed a smile and a thumbs-up, his famous "nice guy pose."

Kakashi sighed. "Always with that self-imposed rule of yours... Very well, I agree to your terms."

"Then let the games begin."

With that, the two jounins disappeared in the blink of an eye.

--

**0800 hours**

"Onee-sama! Our tags are here!"

Hyuuga Hinata woke up as her sister burst into the room, waving around two slips of paper.

"Hanabi? Wha...?"

Hanabi held out the tag with her sister's name on it.

"The tags? For the festival? Here's yours."

Hinata, still a little groggy from just waking up, sat up on her futon and took the tag.

"Oh... Thanks."

"So... Are you gonna ask Naruto-san to the festival, or are you gonna try to capture him?"

The mention of Naruto's name caused Hinata to wake up in a hurry.

"Wh-what?"

"Naruto! You like him don't you?"

"No! Well... I admire him, but I-"

"Oh, don't give me that. I'm your sister, I know you better than that. You wouldn't mind being more than friends with him..." Hanabi gave her sister a nudge with her elbow.

"Hanabi!"

"Well it's true, isn't it? Practically the whole town knows it. This is your chance to let him know, too."

"I... I couldn't. What if he rejects me? I don't want to force him to go with me."

"Sheesh! Quit being Miss Negativity! You're never gonna know how he feels unless you actually ask him."

Hinata thought about that as her sister left the room in frustration.

--

**0917 Hours**

Team Gai met at their usual training spot. Rock Lee was kicking a padded tree stump, working on re-strengthening the leg that was broken, talking between grunts of exertion.

"So do you think (983) Sakura-chan (984) will ask me (985) to the festival? (986)"

TenTen finished sharpening a kunai and sealed it back into one of her scrolls. "I don't know. It's possible. She did bring you flowers during your recovery." She summoned the next weapon on her scroll, a sickle, and proceeded to sharpen it.

Hyuuga Neji was meditating, his Byakugan (White Eye) activated, scanning the surrounding area. "On the other hand," he interjected, "you don't want to make it too easy for her."

Lee, after kicking his 1000th kick, paused to take a breath. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that you shouldn't seem too eager. This is a contest after all. You should try to avoid capture for as long as possible, make her work for it. It's training for you, and also training for her."

"That is a good idea. I shall run from her whenever I see her."

"As a matter of fact," Neji added, focusing his Kekkei Genkai, "I think I see her coming this way now."

"Ah, then I better head out. Thank you, Neji." With that, Lee disappeared into the woods.

TenTen noticed a slight grin on Neji's face. "Sakura-san's not coming," she stated.

"No, she's not. I just wanted to see if I could get him to run away from the only girl who's likely to ask him."

"That was mean. I was thinking of asking you to the festival, but now..." TenTen threw the sickle she was sharpening right at Neji's head. Neji dodged it, but a single strand of hair fell to the ground as the sickle embedded itself in the tree behind him. "Now, I want to 'work for it,' as you so eloquently put it. I'm going to capture you, Neji, and when I do, I'm going to humiliate you." TenTen stalked toward him. As she reached behind him to retrieve her sickle, she leaned in close and whispered in his ear. "If I were you, Neji, I'd run."

A feeling washed over Neji that was beyond fear, beyond terror. Neji couldn't explain it, but he trusted it.

And so he ran.

--

LazerWulf: Now, before you start complaining that Hanabi is OOC, realize that the only time we've ever seen her is in the presence of her father, who is very strict, so she tends to be quiet and subservient when he's around. However, when her father's not around, I imagine that she's a lot more outspoken and confident, kind of like the opposite of Hinata's character, so the two play nicely off each other.

Also, Neji is a jerk. He's getting better, but at this point he still has some residual jerkiness from before his fight with Naruto. Just wait 'til you see what TenTen has in store for him. Please Review!


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